About MacConnect

About Us

Established in 1996 during the early days of the Internet explosion, MacConnect is the oldest and largest Mac-centric ISP on the planet today. The service was born in a time when Mac users were generally treated as second class citizens online. MacConnect stepped in to fill the need for an Internet Service Provider focused on the unique needs of Mac users.

Our first service was basic dial-up service at 28.8 Kbps, which was then upgraded to a blazing fast (in 1997 terms) 56 Kbps. We naturally provided email service with every account, and offered the added benefit of a Mac-centric online community complete with custom client software (Telefinder BBS, for those that might remember).

Every MacConnect customer was afforded free space for personal web pages on our WebSTAR servers. This soon spawned requests to host business and professional web sites, and our Velocity hosting service was born. Originally operated on a single T-1 connection on a set of PowerMac 9600s in our office in Northport, New York, the service grew rapidly forcing our first move into carrier grade telecommunications space in Melville, New York.

By 1998 we’d outgrown that space too, so we packed our bags and relocated the operation to a major datacenter in the northern Virginia area. This afforded us the space, power and network resources to offer Mac server co-location and we were soon responsible for racks and racks full of beige and Bondi blue G3s.

Through the years there were several more moves and upgrades, and some organizational and management changes as the service continued to grow and mature. In 2005 the MacConnect was moved to a datacenter on Long Island owned and operated by MacConnect’s original founder, who took the service full circle by re-purchasing it in 2006.

In 2010 MacConnect is still going full steam ahead, with Mac-centric hosting and co-location our primary services. We’re proud to say that we still have many customers that have been with us for 10 years or more with no indications that they’re looking to leave. We believe that this is a testament to the level of service we’ve provided in the past and will be providing well into the future.

While we’re blowing our own horns, we’ll also let you in on a little secret. We can’t name names, but we’re very proud to say that several of our Mac-centric competitors actually operate out of our datacenter on our network. Our service is so good, that even our competitors become our customers!